Die Fohlen finished fourth in the Bundesliga in 2011-12 to qualify for the Champions League play-offs, and Ter Stegen believes that Lucien Favre's side will have to be realistic in the new campaign, although he lavished praise on the squad.

"I do think that we are a powerful team with a good mix of talented and experienced players. We know we can rely on each other. We also know that it will be difficult to repeat our fourth place finish," the 20-year-old goalkeeper said on bundesliga.de.

"We have to stay grounded and be objective about a place in the top half of the table. If we win our games at home, then that should be manageable."

Despite earning a Champions League play-off spot, Gladbach failed to hold on to three of their key players as Marco Reus, Roman Neustadter and Dante moved to Borussia Dortmund, Schalke and Bayern Munich respectively. And Ter Stegen is aware that replacements will be hard to come by.

"These were three very important players for us, especially Marco as he was key in our attack," he acknowledged. "With Dante, we have also lost an influential player, we now have to compensate with other players.

"We must not let the expectations become too much, but must play the same football that we played last year - then we will have success.

"Until then, there's still a little time to adjust to each other. Then we will see if we have a chance to challenge in the league again."